A Thiel Fellow just closed his housing startup and now 150 people need to figure out new living situations

Campus, a startup that rented out rooms in some 34 houses in the
San Francisco Bay Area and New York, is no more — meaning its
more than 150 residents need to find somewhere else to live
before the official closure on August 31st.

The startup, co-founded in 2013 by Tom Currier — a
Thiel Fellow, given $100,000 by famed venture capitalist
Peter Thiel to drop out of Stanford – basically acted as a
property management company, renting rooms in the houses it
managed for a monthly cost of $1,000 to $2,200.

"Despite continued attempts to alter the company’s current
business model and explore alternative ones, we were unable to
make Campus into an economically viable business," writes Currier
in the farewell message that replaces the main Campus homepage as of
this afternoon.

Campus' whole pitch was that it fostered real-life connections
between people in a planned community.

The Campus homes themselves were in fashionable neighborhoods,
like San Francisco's Mission District and New York's Flatiron
District. The homes would get regular cleaning from professional
services, plus they offered amenities like hot tubs and access to
Campus-managed vacation homes in California's wine country. It
even stocked the kitchen with basics for residents.

That concept made it popular among people (especially tech
industry workers) who were new to the city, and Campus would
often throw barbecues and mixers for residents of its properties
— properties that will go back onto the crowded San Francisco and
New York City rental markets once they're vacated, according to
an email sent to Campus residents and obtained
by SFist.

"We realize this may be shocking news, and how stressful
this situation will be for many of you. We will do anything we
can to make the moving process smooth," writes Currier in that
email.

According to that e-mail,
Campus will cease all community events, professional cleaning,
and stocking the kitchen for residents as it puts its remaining
cash towards paying the rent.